On February 1, 2018, months after his confrontation with teammate Bobby Portis, Nikola Mirotić agreed to a trade where he'd be sent alongside a future second round pick to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Ömer Aşık, Tony Allen, Jameer Nelson, and a future first round pick.
Newly acquired Zach LaVine played in just 24 games this season due to knee injuries.
Entering draft night, the Bulls possessed picks 16 and 38, with the latter being acquired via a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
First, they traded away All-Star shooting guard Jimmy Butler and their #16 pick (which became redshirted freshman center Justin Patton from Creighton University), to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and the Timberwolves' #7 pick in the draft, which became the star Finnish freshman center/power forward Lauri Markkanen from the University of Arizona.
As for their own second-round selection on the day of the draft, one that the Bulls got from Cleveland, they traded away that pick (which was junior power forward Jordan Bell from the University of Oregon) to the defending champion Golden State Warriors in exchange for $3.5 million.